5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[sandman221]

pretty bad odds for me. 2 out of 21.

 

[LogCabinFarm]

Well here it is ,set 16 hatched 8 on new year day - culled one[cripple] and left with 7 healthy bcm chicks ..Eggs were bought on ebay and shipped from Tenn. to Ohio in very cold weather . I put all 16 in the bator with out being sure if they were all fertile , the eggs were very dark and hard for me to see in . Cant wait til next new year to do again . Thanks for all the advice and info and pics

 

[bantambury]

pretty bad odds for me. 2 out of 21.

that's OK!

Remember, its winter, so its just a bit harder to hatch. during the spring and summer you will have better amounts to come! also remember, we can blame the rooster because not ALL eggs will hatch.

 

[ronott1]

pretty bad odds for me. 2 out of 21.

You will do better next time!

 

[bantambury]

Well here it is ,set 16 hatched 8 on new year day - culled one[cripple] and left with 7 healthy bcm chicks ..Eggs were bought on ebay and shipped from Tenn. to Ohio in very cold weather . I put all 16 in the bator with out being sure if they were all fertile , the eggs were very dark and hard for me to see in . Cant wait til next new year to do again . Thanks for all the advice and info and pics

Are they Black Australorps? ive had some! beautiful birds!

so....50% hatch rate for you too? that's great!


I LOVE that little boxed room with the doors! holds heat in, and if chicks wanted to leave they could too! ill do that my next hatch!

 

[ronott1]

Well here it is ,set 16 hatched 8 on new year day - culled one[cripple] and left with 7 healthy bcm chicks ..Eggs were bought on ebay and shipped from Tenn. to Ohio in very cold weather . I put all 16 in the bator with out being sure if they were all fertile , the eggs were very dark and hard for me to see in . Cant wait til next new year to do again . Thanks for all the advice and info and pics

50% is not bad for shipped eggs!

Good job!

 

[JDchicks]

Thanks....My boy is a Brabanter cross...with what I don't know. He is my love...Seriously, I would trade my whole flock to keep this one boy. He is so sweet, the perfect size for the girls, BEAUTIFUL, curious, and did I mention sweet?? I am trying to duplicate him as closely as I can, and have only had 1 come close, but instead of hearts on the chest he ended up with teardrops. He is my other roo. So, I want a brabanter hen to breed with him, for myself, not to sell or anything. I just want to continue...him...he has so many wonderful qualities. I will certainly let you know when I find a source!!

His is beautiful!!!!

 

[FeyRaine]

Final count 5 marans and 3 Trader Joes Leghorns! Pictures later today!

Tail feathers will grow slower on cockerels too. That lasts longer than 1-3 days.

One thing I've done re feather sexing of mutt LF is I look at the group of chicks, the ones whose wing feathers reach the end of their body & have tail feathers starting (angled down) when the others only have half wings, those I assume are pullets, and on that day the ones w/ very little wing feathers & zero tail those I call roos, of course there as always a few somewhere in between and those keep me guessing, but there is always a day around day 7-ish when I can look in the brooder and call it on pullet vs roo for about 75% of lf mutts and that can useful for example if I'm keeping just 1-2 from a batch I can fairly confidently pick a pullet based what I think of as "the wing feathering race". My wrong guesses have all been on EEs w/ Jap & game in their background.

Thanks.

The babies are making me laugh. They have just discovered that their brooder has 2 whole other levels they didn't know about. Now they are zipping up the ramp and then hopping off the edge flapping their little stubs.

Cool. I've been wanting to make a multi level brooder, not I'm sure I will b/c that sounds great to watch. (hint hint pictures??!!)

 

[LogCabinFarm]

Are they Black Australorps? ive had some! beautiful birds!

so....50% hatch rate for you too? that's great!


I LOVE that little boxed room with the doors! holds heat in, and if chicks wanted to leave they could too! ill do that my next hatch!

Thanks...I seen some ppl use the box in a box on this site and figured I would use it ... they are black copper marans [ cottage hill line] from Tenn.

 

[bantambury]

One thing I've done re feather sexing of mutt LF is I look at the group of chicks, the ones whose wing feathers reach the end of their body & have tail feathers starting (angled down) when the others only have half wings, those I assume are pullets, and on that day the ones w/ very little wing feathers & zero tail those I call roos, of course there as always a few somewhere in between and those keep me guessing, but there is always a day around day 7-ish when I can look in the brooder and call it on pullet vs roo for about 75% of lf mutts and that can useful for example if I'm keeping just 1-2 from a batch I can fairly confidently pick a pullet based what I think of as "the wing feathering race". My wrong guesses have all been on EEs w/ Jap & game in their background.

ive realized some of my mutt chicks have down pointing tails...some have upward tails.

so downward pointing = pullets, upward = males? if so this will help a lot. my chicks are 4 days old today.